Gentlemen: I own a 1950 PA-20 with Univair sealed wing struts. I spent yesterday trying to "correct" the strut rigging that was done by the IA/A&P at the last annual. (I also am an A&P and I/A). I placed a scissors jack under each landing gear and a jack under the tail, and leveled the airplane I/A/W Piper Service Memo #20. At the completion, I thought I had done a good job. The bubble in the level was correct, the string height was correct and the wing tips were equally distant from the floor. After lowering the airplane, the right wing was 2 inches higher off the floor than the left side, and both of the right side lower strut bolts were showing about 1/2 inch more thread than the left side. In retrospect, I think that pulling and pushing on the strut upper ends, to get them in and out of their brackets, probably rotated the airplane on the landing gear bungees. (I checked the plumb bob frequently, although probably not often enough.) So, my question is; could I put a padded 2x6 cross ways, under the fuselage somewhere ahead of the landing gear and aft of the firewall, and put a scissors jack under each end of it, to level the airplane? Thereby taking the bungees out of the equation. I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who might have an idea about the 2x6, or any other part of my process! Thank you for your help!
Dick
P.S. I'm going to try this again this coming week, or as soon as I can get my helpers organized - they're kind of reluctant to do it twice!
Thanks again for any advice you can offer.
Dick
P.S. I'm going to try this again this coming week, or as soon as I can get my helpers organized - they're kind of reluctant to do it twice!
Thanks again for any advice you can offer.
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